Competition

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FTC Chair's 1st Act: Ending 'Scourge' Of DEI

Andrew N. Ferguson made his first public act as the Federal Trade Commission's new Republican chairman Wednesday by ordering the end of all agency diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and declaring that the "scourge" of DEI is over at the FTC.
February 07, 2025
Copyright Office Seeks Info On Performance Rights Groups

The U.S. Copyright Office wants more information about how performance rights organizations, or PROs, are being used to collect music royalties, in response to a letter from a trio of Republican lawmakers on the issue.
February 07, 2025
Nippon-US Steel Merger Targeted By Consumers In Calif.

A group of consumers has asked a California federal court to prohibit Japan's Nippon Steel Corp. from acquiring U.S. Steel Corp. in their proposed $14.9 billion mega-merger, filing suit just days before President Donald Trump suggested that the deal was being called off.
February 07, 2025
DOJ Tells DC Circ. Not To Delay Google Search Fix For Apple

The U.S. Department of Justice and state enforcers told the D.C. Circuit Friday that the remedies phase of the search monopolization case against Google is too important to wait while Apple appeals a ruling denying its last minute bid to intervene in the case.
February 07, 2025
5th Circ. Pauses Suit Over CFPB's Small Biz Lending Rules

The Fifth Circuit on Friday paused a case challenging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new small business minority data rule after the bureau's counsel was unable to argue its case following a directive ordering the agency to stop much of its work to "promote consistency with the goals of the administration."
February 07, 2025
Wis. Football Player Gets Additional Year Of Eligibility

A federal judge has granted a University of Wisconsin football player another year of eligibility, overriding the NCAA's five-year-rule and noting that the landscape of college athletics has shifted.
February 07, 2025
Ousted CMA Chair Says 'Misinformation' Remains A Challenge

The recently ousted chair of the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority reflected on what he said were great strides undoing the antitrust agency's "technocratic" character, but added it made the least progress in combating "lobbying and misinformation" intended to undermine the agency's decisions, including around the cleared Microsoft-Activision merger.
February 07, 2025
OpenAI Can't Avoid Reverse TM Confusion Claim, Judge Says

A California federal judge has allowed a trademark infringement counterclaim to proceed against OpenAI by a company with a similar name, finding Open Artificial Intelligence Inc. has plausibly alleged its mark became associated with AI tools before OpenAI became widely known for ChatGPT.
February 07, 2025
John Deere Tractor Rivals Seek Info Safeguards In FTC Case

A trio of tractor manufacturers asked an Illinois federal judge Friday to impose stringent safeguards for sensitive business information they turned over to the Federal Trade Commission in the run-up to its right-to-repair lawsuit against their "primary competitor," John Deere.
February 07, 2025
Fed. Circ. Considers Some Testing For Avadel Sleep Drug

Judges on the Federal Circuit seemed open to modifying a district court's injunction barring specialty drugmaker Avadel Pharmaceuticals from marketing its on-market narcolepsy drug for use in treating another sleep disorder Friday.
February 07, 2025
Off The Bench: Trump Bans Trans Athletes, NCAA Falls In Line

In this week's Off The Bench, the NCAA changes course to accommodate a presidential ban on transgender women athletes, Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter is sentenced for his gambling-driven embezzlement, and women's soccer players get restitution for abuse at the hands of their coaches and teams.
February 07, 2025
Agribusiness Co., Ex-Worker Settle Stolen Clients Claims

An agricultural firm and a former employee it accused of pilfering confidential information on his way out the door in a bid to steal clients have reached a deal to resolve the firm's claims, according to a court order.
February 06, 2025
Dem Sens. Re-Introduce Bill To Stop Algorithmic Price-Fixing

A group of Democratic senators has re-introduced a bill that would prevent companies from using common software and shared data to set prices through algorithms, an issue that's been the subject of mounting litigation in the rental housing market and other sectors.
February 06, 2025
In Microchip Feud, Fed. Circ. Says PTAB Error Was 'Harmless'

The Federal Circuit handed down a precedential decision Thursday finding that a claim construction error made by patent board judges was "harmless," declining to breathe new life into claims asserted against Microchip Technology.
February 06, 2025
Judge Questions Firm's Candor In Apple, Amazon Docs Row

A Washington federal judge said on Thursday there was "troubling shifting" around Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP's explanation of texts and emails with a client who disappeared from a proposed class action targeting Amazon and Apple, while also saying it might not matter because the firm found substitute plaintiffs.
February 06, 2025
SEC 'Exposes Lunacy' Through Its Dueling Suits, PE Firm Says

A South Carolina private equity fund said Thursday the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is trying to gut it through a Florida lawsuit, telling a Texas judge the commission made "out of touch statements" on how the litigation will harm its business.
February 06, 2025
Jeld-Wen Appealing Forced Factory Sale To 4th Circ., Again

Jeld-Wen Inc. is taking another trip to the Fourth Circuit to fight an order forcing it to sell a door skin factory, filing a notice of appeal Thursday after a Virginia federal judge said a $115 million price is fair.
February 06, 2025
Earthlink Investors' Attys Score $28M In Merger Suit

The attorneys who helped Earthlink investors score an $85 million settlement with the company after they said they were tricked into approving a $1.1 billion merger with a failing telecommunications company will be walking away with almost $28 million for their trouble.
February 06, 2025
Sam Altman Calls Musk's Claim Of Ban On Rivals 'False'

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the key claim made in a preliminary injunction request from Elon Musk in their ongoing investment spat is false, saying in a new declaration that he never told OpenAI investors that they wouldn't be able to invest in the company if they also invested in Musk's xAI.
February 06, 2025
Drug Cos. Urge Full Fed. Circ. To Hear Teva Orange Book Row

The branded pharmaceutical industry is lining up behind a legal effort from Israeli drugmaker Teva that wants the full Federal Circuit to hear a dispute over delisting patents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Orange Book.
February 06, 2025
Amazon Patent Suit Was Wrongly Sent To Calif., Tech Co. Says

Software company VirtaMove Corp. has argued that its patent infringement lawsuit against Amazon and two affiliates was wrongly transferred from Texas to California, saying it dismissed the case against two of the three defendants before the court's order went out.
February 06, 2025
UnitedHealth Drops Bid To Toss Home Health Deal Challenge

UnitedHealth Group and home health and hospice giant Amedisys Inc. dropped their bid to toss a case challenging their $3.3 billion merger after enforcers detailed the home health and hospice markets they allege will be hurt by the deal.
February 06, 2025
JPMorgan's State Trade Secret Data Row Claim Axed, For Now

A federal judge in Delaware has ruled that JPMorgan Chase & Co. sufficiently alleged Argus Information & Advisory Services violated a federal trade secrets law by allegedly misusing anonymized credit card data collected from banks, but said JPMorgan's contention Argus violated a Delaware trade secret law could not stand.
February 06, 2025
FTC GOP Focusing On Merger 'Friction,' AI, 'Censorship'

Federal Trade Commission Republicans are beginning to signal their Trump-era policies, including a friendlier approach to mergers with fewer challenges based on "weak or factually unsupported theories," a more hands-off take on artificial intelligence, and a heavy emphasis on combating alleged online censorship of conservatives.
February 06, 2025
UFC Fighters Get Final Approval For $375M Settlement

A Nevada federal judge granted final approval Thursday to a $375 million settlement in a more than a decade-long class action in which fighters accused UFC of suppressing their wages, according to a lead attorney on the case.
February 06, 2025
Texas' Google Ad Tech Trial Delayed From March To August

A Texas federal judge has pushed back the trial date for a group of Texas-led states' antitrust suit against Google over its digital advertising business, moving the scheduled start from March to August.

Editor's Picks

Google Ad Tech Trial: 15 Days On The Rocket Docket

The Justice Department wrapped an extraordinary antitrust trial last week that left a Virginia federal judge pondering whether Google is even dominant in the display advertising placement technology market or just another player.
FTC Withdraws From Feds' Merger Review Labor Pact

The Federal Trade Commission is withdrawing from an agreement signed in August with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board that's meant to increase collaboration when looking at labor issues in mergers.
US Antitrust Holds Fast: No 'Environmental Justice' Goals

A top Federal Trade Commission official in her latest address to antitrust lawyers offered little comfort to U.S. companies seeking to collaborate on environmental initiatives.

Expert Analysis

Steel Cases Test Executive Authority, Judicial Scope

Lawsuits challenging former President Joe Biden’s order blocking the merger of Japan's Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel may shape how future administrations wield presidential authority over foreign investment in the name of national security, says Hdeel Abdelhady at MassPoint Legal.
Will 4th Time Be A Charm For NY's 21st Century Antitrust Act?

New York's recently introduced 21st Century Antitrust Act would change the landscape of antitrust enforcement in the state and probably result in a sharp increase in claims — but first, the bill needs to gain traction after three aborted attempts, says Tyler Ross at Shinder Cantor.
Perspectives

Accountant-Owned Law Firms Could Blur Ethical Lines

KPMG’s recent application to open a legal practice in Arizona represents the first overture by an accounting firm to take advantage of the state’s relaxed law firm ownership rules, but enforcing and supervising the practice of law by nonattorneys could prove particularly challenging, says Seth Laver at Goldberg Segalla.
How FTC Consumer Protection May Fare Under Reg Freeze

Attorneys at Crowell & Moring consider how President Donald Trump's executive order directing agencies to freeze all pending rulemaking activity may frustrate any Federal Trade Commission efforts to change or eliminate rules that made it across the finish line before the inauguration.
Critical Steps For Navigating Intensified OFAC Enforcement

The largely overlooked SkyGeek settlement from the end of 2024 heralds the arrival of the Office of Foreign Assets Control's long anticipated enhanced enforcement posture and clearly demonstrates the sanctions-compliance benefits of immediately responding to blocked payments, says Jeremy Paner at Hughes Hubbard.
Poetic Justice? Drake's 'Not Like Us' Suit May Alter Music Biz

Drake v. Universal Music Group, over Kendrick Lamar's diss track "Not Like Us," represents a pivotal moment in the intersection of music, law and corporate accountability, raising questions about the role of record labels in shaping artist rivalries and the limits of free speech, says Enrico Trevisani at Michelman & Robinson.
AI Will Soon Transform The E-Discovery Industrial Complex

Todd Itami at Covington discusses how generative artificial intelligence will reshape the current e-discovery paradigm, replacing the blunt instrument of data handling with a laser scalpel of fully integrated enterprise solutions — after first making e-discovery processes technically and legally harder.
Managing Transatlantic Antitrust Investigations And Litigation

As transatlantic competition regulators cooperate more closely and European antitrust investigations increasingly spark follow-up civil suits in the U.S., companies must understand how to simultaneously juggle high-stakes multigovernment investigations and manage the risks of expensive new claims across jurisdictions, say lawyers at Paul Weiss.
IP, Licensing, M&A Trends To Watch In Life Sciences This Year

2025 promises to continue an exciting trajectory for the life sciences industry, with major trends ranging from global harmonization of intellectual property to cross-border licensing activity and an increase of nontraditional financial participants in the mergers and acquisition space, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
When Innovation Overwhelms The Rule Of Law

In an era where technology is rapidly evolving and artificial intelligence is seemingly everywhere, it’s worth asking if the law — both substantive precedent and procedural rules — can keep up with the light speed of innovation, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
FTC Focus: Avoiding 'Gun Jumping' Violations

The Federal Trade Commission's recent record $5.6 million "gun jumping" enforcement action against XCL Resources, EP Energy and Verdun Oil sends a clear message about the seriousness of violations of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act's premerger requirements, and highlights compliance tips such as avoiding premature integration of operations, say attorneys at Proskauer.
Drug Pricing Policy Trends To Expect In 2025 And Beyond

Though 2025 may bring more of the same in the realm of drug pricing policy, business as usual entails a sustained, high level of legal and policy developments across at least six major areas, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
Imagine The Possibilities Of Openly Autistic Lawyering

Andi Mazingo at Lumen Law, who was diagnosed with autism about midway through her career, discusses how the legal profession can create inclusive workplaces that empower openly autistic lawyers and enhance innovation, and how neurodivergent attorneys can navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with disclosing one’s diagnosis.
Top 10 Healthcare And Life Sciences Issues To Watch In 2025

Under the new Trump administration, this coming year may benefit some healthcare and life sciences stakeholders, while creating new challenges for others amid an increasingly complex regulatory environment, say attorneys at Debevoise.
Why Trump's FTC May Not U-Turn On Robinson-Patman

The Federal Trade Commission's recent revival of Robinson-Patman Act enforcement may well be here to stay under the Trump administration — albeit with some important caveats for businesses caught in the government's crosshairs, say attorneys at Reed Smith.